GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 



271 



. 1. CHENOPO'DIUM, L. Goosefoot. 



[Gr. CKen, a goose, and Pmts, podos, a foot ; in allusion to the form of the leaves.] 



Flo'wers perfect. Calyx 5-cleft, rarely 2 - 4-cleft or parted, with the 

 lobes sometimes keeled, but not appendaged nor becoming succulent, 

 more or less enveloping the depressed fruit. Stamens mostly 5 ; filament 

 filiform. Styles 2, rarely 3. Seed horizontal (sometimes vertical in No. 

 3.), lenticular ; embryo partially or fully coiled round the mealy albumen. 

 Weeds, mostly annuals, usually with a white mealiness or glandular. 

 Flowers sessile in small clusters collected in spiked panicles, blooming 

 throughout the summer. 



* Leaves strongly and sharply-toothed (mealiness obscure or none), on slen- 



der petioles ; calyx-lobes slightly keeled. 



1. C. hy'bridum, L. Leaves green on both sides, cordate-ovate, acumi- 

 nate, angularly and remotely dentate ; racemes loosely paniculate, leafless. 

 Hybrid Chenopodium. Maple-leaved Goosefoot. 



stem 2-4 feet high, rather slender, angular and striate, much branched. Leaves 2-4 

 inches long, thin, bright green ; petioles 1-2 inches in length. Floivers paniculate, — the 

 sub-divisions cymose ; terminal panicle long and loose, with divaricate branches. The 

 smooth calyx-lobes keeled. Seed sharp-edged, the thin pericarp adhering closely to it. 



About dwellings and along streams : common. Native of Europe. June- August. 



Obs. A common weed with a heavy odor, like that of Stramonium. 



* * Leaves tootlied, repand-angled, or sometimes 

 nearly entire, more or less white-mealy as 

 well as the flowers ; calyx-lobes distinctl y 

 keeled. 



2. C. al'bum, L. Leaves rhomboid-ovate, 

 erose-dentate, entire and tapering towards 

 the base, — the upper ones oblong-lanceolate, 

 entire ; racemes erect, branched, somewhat 

 leafy. 



White Chexopodium. Lamb's Quarters. 

 Goosefoot. 



Fr. Anserine blanche. Germ. Der Gaense- 

 fuss. 



i2oo< annual. Stem 3-5 or 6 feet high, rather stout, 

 angular, often striped with yellow and green, some- 

 times purplish, branched. Leaves 1-3 inches long, 

 covered with very minute flat or cup-like scales (espe- 

 cially on the under surface) , which give them a glau- 

 cous or mealy appearance ; petioles 1-2 or 3 inches 

 long. Flowers in pulverulent clusters. Calyx depressed, 

 5-angled by the prominent keels of the incurved segments, greenish and glaucous. 

 Seed dark purple or nearly black, lenticular, smooth and shining. 



175 



ViG. 173. An enlarged flower of the Common Goosefoot (Chenopodium album.) 174. The 

 same divided. 175. A section through the seed, showing the coiled embryo outside the 

 albumen . 



